Chapter Forty-Six | ALEX GRIFFITH

ALEX FELT HIS WHOLE BODY CALM when he saw Ophelia striding up the hill towards them, a spring in her step. He suddenly could breathe again.

For what felt like hours, he and Kitty had tried to make their way through the Fields of Punishment. Every path failed. The only ways unblocked went to distant exits. He had been about ready to pray to Hermes for guidance finding the right roads when Kitty, shining golden lyre clasped close to her chest once more, pointed out Ophelia below them.

"Thank the gods," Alex said. He turned to Kitty. "Let me handle this."

Kitty just gave a half snort. "She's all yours. If she calls me Katerina again, though-"

"I get it."

It didn't take long for Ophelia to reach them. Wringing her hands, she didn't say much. Alex stared down where fidgeted. Her hands had turned black as night. They really had to get out of here.

"Are you okay?" Alex said.

Ophelia nodded.

"Then we need to move." He didn't wait for her to say anything more. If Eris was whispering in her ear, they needed to remove themselves as fast as possible. Conversation would only delay that. He didn't want to confront her. Not here. Not surrounded on all sides by the goddess of strife and discord. His face hurt enough already.

They marched in silence. Alex breathed easier when they stepped beyond the Fields of Punishment into the Underworld. Far in the distance he saw Daedalus's on going overpass project. The air in this liminal space of the Underworld stilled. No cold breeze, no raging fire, no screams of the dead beyond those they left behind, just a quietness.

He knew the way. Somehow, some way. As he ran his thumb up and down the Vindication on his wrist, polishing the caduceus until he could see his pale blue eyes staring back at himself, he focused on the task. They were so close. They knew the way out.

The Door of Orpheus would be their salvation. Kitty had the lyre. He glanced back at her, standing on his right-hand side matching each stride. She offered him a quick smile. They knew the way out, they had their quest item, and they were all still alive.

How long they walked, Alex couldn't tell. Without a sun, he couldn't keep track of days and nights. In the Underworld, it all blurred together. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. As they walked, his inside groaned and his head began to hurt just on the edge of a migraine. At least there were no bright lights here in the eternal darkness.

They walked unhindered. No hellhounds, no harpies, just him and the girls and a shining Olympian artifact. Still, he felt a creeping sense of unease the longer they walked. He couldn't help but wonder how long their luck would hold. Even with a daughter of Tyche in their midst, something would go wrong.

It turned out to be a river, and not a monster, that finally stopped their march to the exit. Milky white and slow-moving, Alex felt his breath catch as they approached the edge of the River Lethe. Not far beyond the other side, he saw the Walls of Erebos. So close, but so far.

"How are we gonna cross?" Kitty said.

Alex didn't have an answer. He knew the stories. The river of oblivion would suck the memories, the very personhood of an individual foolish or unlucky enough to set foot in its midst. They couldn't risk leaping across, even though it seemed no more than five feet wide here. Perhaps they'd find a crossing not far down the bank.

"Wait."

Alex turned around. Ophelia hadn't spoken a single word since they'd left the Fields of Punishment. He hadn't pushed her. The last thing he'd wanted to do was anger her.

"I have an idea," she said.

"Let's hear it," Kitty said.

Alex watched as Ophelia shook her head ever so slightly. The gold in her gold and blue eyes brightened ever so slightly as she moved toward the River's edge. She looked down. Then she looked back.

"We're doing this all wrong," she said. Ophelia ran a hand over her arm. Silence stretched on for a moment before she spoke again. "We don't need to give the lyre to Zeus."

Alex felt his stomach drop. The shadows seemed to darken ever so slightly as he fidgeted with his bracelet. "We have a quest."

"We have a quest to save the children who fought for Kronos," Ophelia said. "But Alex, we can do that without the gods."

"Hold up-"

Alex cut Kitty off. "What do you mean?" The unease he'd felt creeping up his spine all day sent shivers down his whole body, like a tiny electric current amidst the dark.

"If we take this back to the Olympians, we save the living," Ophelia said. "But I can save them all."

"All?"

"The dead, Alex. I can save the dead."

None of them spoke. Alex stared at his girlfriend some ten feet away, fidgeting where she stood and choosing her words at odd moments. Her speech was stilted, as if something-someone-interrupted her at every move.

"This is Eris talking, not you." He shook his head. "We need to get out of here"

Ophelia shook her head. Taking a few steps forward, she reached for his hands. They were still black, and frozen to the touch. Alex flinched, but held on. This was his girlfriend. This was the girl who smelled of shadow and flame. The girl he had killed for. He wouldn't let go of her. They just needed a plan. He needed a plan.

"When I'm queen of the Underworld, I can create a new order. I can save the Dead and you can save the living," she said. Her smile widened for a moment before faltering. "I am the heir of Night and the daughter of Necromancy."

Alex couldn't speak. But Kitty could. "At risk of sounding like the Apollo cabin on Broadway Karaoke night, you're having delusions of grandeur."

His own hands began to go numb as he held on to Ophelia. Alex watched her roll her eyes at Kitty before turning back to him. He'd never seen her eyes shine so gold before. And he'd never seen the shadows dance so crown-like around her head. He needed a plan. He needed a plan and he couldn't think of one. He had to stall.

"Ophelia, if we get the Lyre to Olympus, we guarantee the lives of the living," he said. Alex gripped her hands tighter, ignoring the way his joints ached from the cold. "We guarantee Leah lives. If you challenge Hades, you'll lose, and I won't let you lose alone. The living will die."

Ophelia shook herself free from him, taking a step back. She chewed on her lip, movements jerky as she shifted from foot to foot and paced a few steps in each direction. "No. No, I'll win."

"You won't," Alex said.

She couldn't form words, so she just half grunted, half screamed in frustration. Ophelia pointed at him, the shadows darkening. "I thought you'd understand. You pulled a sword on Zeus, Alex! Or have you forgotten that when learning to bow to these self-righteous gods."

Alex took a deep breath. The rage that had burned in his chest when he stood before the gods began to fill his chest again. A deep anger that tensed every muscle and made him want to scream, flowed through his veins. He had not forgotten it.

"When I threatened the gods, Ophelia, I never once expected to win." He took a step forward, gesturing around them at the darkness. "You think you can beat Hades? When I threatened Zeus I did so hoping to die. Not so I could rest in peace but so Percy and Annabeth and all the Half-Bloods would see what kind of king he is." Alex tried to calm down, tried to take a deep breath, but the air grew cold. "Eris is deleuding you into thinking you can kill a god. You can't kill a god."

Ophelia covered her mouth with both hands, turning away for a moment. Her black hands began to smoke, shadows peeling off her in waves. He couldn't hear the words she was speaking. Perhaps a spell, perhaps mad chattering to Eris who know doubt was filling her head with lies. This had to stop. He had to stop this.

"There's nothing left to lose," Ophelia said. She frowned, putting her hands down to her side and opening her palms. "I can save everyone. I have to. Death will mean nothing because I can save everyone."

The world exploded in freezing darkness. Alex slammed into the ground, head spinning and shards of gravel and shale cutting into his skin. A groan escaped him as he tried to breathe. He hacked and coughed, trying to focus. Everything hurt. Blood trickled down his forehead. His hair plastered to his face as he pushed himself to his feet.

He wobbled. Kitty lay on the ground to his right, far too close to the River Lethe for his liking. She didn't move. Blood spilled from her cheek where she'd hit her head on the lyre. Cold air made it hard to breathe. Turning back to Ophelia, he stopped breathing.

She knelt on the ground, holding her head. Shadow swirled around her, not unlike her stand before the Haunted Mansion against the Empousai. But instead of rogue monsters who had once served her own mother, a single figure stood in front of Ophelia. A goddess, ageless and pale with blood red lips and long black hair had on a corset of ebony armor over dark robes. Her golden eyes watched very movement he made. In her outstretched hands, two blades formed out of the shadows.

"You wanna know what I've always loved about demigods?" Eris said. "You're just so…easy to manipulate."

Alex took a deep breath. His lungs stung as cold air filled them but he forced himself to ignore it. As he regained his bearings, Alex pulled Vindication off his wrist.

"Greater men than you have tried to resist me, Alexander. All of them failed. You know why?" Eris smiled, an unsettling movement that sent chills down Alex's spine. "You think Demigods are my enemies? No. Demigods are born for the battlefield. It runs through your veins. A never-ending need, a thirst, for action. You live for strife."

Vindication flashed as it transformed into a blade of pure celestial bronze, shining in the darkness of the Underworld. The winged crossguard almost seemed to stretch as he stood to defend himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kitty stirring.

"You're right. Ophelia cannot kill Hades." Eris stepped forward, moving in front of his girlfriend and blocking his view.

Alex stepped forward. He found his voice. "Then release her."

"No." Eris twisted her right blade in a quick circle, licking her lips. "This is too much fun. I love demigods. You believe yourselves so powerful. Ophelia's arrogance and righteousness will serve me and Night herself. Darkness will consume all."

"You're not taking her."

Eris chuckled. "See, this is why I love demigods. You're just so reckless. All right, son of Hermes. You want to fight me? You who rightly said a half-blood cannot kill a god?"

He looked past the goddess at the swirling shadows surrounding Ophelia, grasping at her head as she knelt on the ground in pain. Rage fueled him as he raised Vindication a bit higher. He could feel shivers of fear running down his spine as he lined himself up across from the goddess of strife, champion of battle and betrayal.

For to Herald's home but one returns, the prophecy had said. He knew now that would not be him. And as looked past Eris, he knew it would not be Ophelia. They would get what they deserved. Death, just as they had doled out to the followers of the Olympians for years. So Kitty had to get out. As she pushed herself to her feet, he ordered her to run.

He had drawn his blade on one god already. It seemed only fitting he would die for doing it to another.